Dead Sea Scrolls Qumran Caves

The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript find of all time. Discovered between 1947 and 1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls comprise some 800 documents but in many tens of thousands of fragments. The Scrolls date from around 250 B.C. to 68 A.D. and were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; they contain Biblical and apocryphal works, prayers and legal texts and sectarian documents.

This priceless collection of ancient manuscripts is invaluable to our understanding of the history of Judaism, the development of the Hebrew Bible, and the beginnings of Christianity.

Found accidentally by a Bedouin searching for stray animals in early 1947 (though it may have been earlier), Cave 1 contained the best-preserved scrolls, which had been protected by tall clay jars with lids. The notable scrolls discovered here included two copies of the Book of Isaiah, the War Scroll, which describes an expected apocalyptic battle between the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, and the Rule of the Community, which contains the rules of the sect thought to have composed many of the Scrolls.

Discovered by archaeologists who had been excavating the site of Qumran, Cave 2 was found in February 1952 near Cave 1. It contained fragments of many Biblical books, including all Five Books of Moses (the Book of Leviticus is written in old Hebrew script), Jeremiah, Psalms and others, and the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Also found were thongs (photo above) used for tying the scrolls.

Cave 3 was found by archaeologists in March 1952. It contained fragments of Ezekiel, Psalms, Lamentations and a commentary on Isaiah, but the most unusual find was the Copper Scroll, a long inscribed metal sheet, which may be a list of Temple treasure.

The mother lode of manuscript fragments. Cave 4 was found in August 1952 by Bedouin exploring literally right under the noses of the archaeologists excavating Qumran on the plateau above. The cave contained 575 manuscripts, most of them in tatters, including parts of Biblical and apocryphal books, Biblical commentaries, works on Jewish law, prayers and sectarian documents. Due to their poorly preserved state, the fragments from Cave 4 were generally the most difficult to decipher and translate.

Discovered by Bedouin in February 1956, Cave 11 contained Biblical and apocryphal texts but its most notable manuscript was the Temple Scroll, the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls and apparently an additional book of the Torah. The Temple Scroll was not recovered by scholars until 1967.